Heylin High School
by Meg Kake
Summary: Jack SPicer is a cold hearted, highschool student. Nothing is more important to him than his time spent alone in shop class, not even his friends. however, some familiar faces may shine through to help him change his ways.
1. The boy who needed no one

A/N: It's Xiaolin Showdown, but with a twist! Jack Spicer is a cold hearted Highschool shop junky. Rai, Kim and the gang are all there to help annoy him. Can he pull himself out of his selfish ways on his own, or will he need a little help?

Every study hall the kid had, Jack could be found in the lower shop levels of his school. Never once did he spend more time than he needed to in his study hall, he argued that it was because he hated all the people that were in it. So instead, anyone who knew about the guy, knew they could find him under the hood of a car in his shop class, repairing its far past spent engine. His shop teacher, Mr. Baloni, who hated his last name, saw Jack so often, that he now trusted him to roam about the room on his own, free to do what he pleased without any teacher supervision. However, when he wasn't indulging himself with technical studies of his own conduct, he was forced to spend the day like the rest of his fellow students: resenting the classes he was forced to take.

Days always started off slow for the boy. There was a good twenty minutes where Jack found he had nothing to do before class. His tech teacher wasn't physically in the building yet, so he couldn't go down and repair cars, and his friends, he knew, were probably all still sleeping.

Jack was the type of kid, who carried himself highly, and because he did so, his classmates around him looked at him the same. He had a select circle of friends, who basically answered to his every whim, and if you weren't one of these people Jack considered his posse, you could be sure he looked down at you as obsolete. But it wasn't like Jack was a bad guy by any means; he just demanded a lot of respect, and who wouldn't, being in his shoes?

As Jack poked around through his locker, he felt a tap come on his shoulder, but he wasn't done getting what he needed for the first few classes, so he idly ignored it. It was only when he was sharply spun around by a pair of rough hands, that he took notice to the person behind him. "Hey you little queer!" the boy shouted in his face, "you and your little posse of thugs let out all the air in my tires!"

Jack looked at that boy, confused, and not knowing what he was going on about for the life of him. Then it all made sense, "Raimundo, as much as I would love to take credit for this, I didn't do it." he shook his head while pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, "did you ever once consider the weather outside? Rai, it's like 10 degrees out there, the air probably compressed like all air does when cooled or it just left your tires because it hates you." The face Raimundo took on, almost made Jack feel bad for him… almost. "But listen, because I know you're reputation cant handle any imperfections, I'll let you bring it around back to the shop class garage, and for a small fee of $20, I'll fill your tires with air. You can pick it up after school."

Raimundo had no choice but to comply with the boys offer, there was only a slight problem. "Listen, Jack man, I appreciate all this you're doing for me, but I need to ask you another little bit of a favor." Jack arched his eyebrow, urging him to go on, "well… you see… it' like this. My girlfriend, Kimiko, she and I had plans o meet in

front of her locker to-" Jack held up his hand to let Rai know he shouldn't go into further detail if he wanted his car to come back with all it's break pads intact, "right, sorry… but I don't have the time to drive it down there just now, y'know?"

"No, I don't… but continue." Why in god's name did he offer to help Raimundo? Something like this always popped up, and somehow, it always had to do with his girlfriend.

"So I was wondering if you could take the car back there yourself, if I give you the keys… I mean?" He waited nervously as Jack thought the proposition through.

At last, he spoke up, "only if you give me 5 bucks ahead of time, on top of the $20 you already owe me." It was a deal; they shook hands on it, and in Jack's hand, was left Raimundo's car keys.

With no time to be wasted, Rai was off sprinting down the halls to meet up with his girlfriend. He called back over his shoulder, "thanks man! It's the red Honda parked near the fire hydrant!" and with that, Rai had turned a corner and fallen out of sight.

Amidst the remorse for what he had just agreed to do, Jack sighed and looked down at his hand with the car keys. Then, with an onslaught of anger, he kicked at his already shut locker door, "that bastard! He didn't pay me my 5 bucks! I was gonna use that for my lunch money," he pouted. With the sudden surge of anger now dissipating, Jack shrugged off the last of it and headed downstairs to walk out to the parking lot.

There, next to the fire hydrant, was Rai's Red Honda Accord, "what a crap car… no wonder he parked it next to a fire hydrant, he was probably looking to get it towed away from this school and out of his life…" Jack shook his red head of hair while unlocking the car door. A cringe took hold of his face when he saw what state Rai's car was in. The floor was covered with candy bar rappers and a sticky residue, that Jack was sure he did not want to find out from what. His dash board was not only covered with the same sticky crust, but is also had gum stuck on its underside, and the seats, which Jack dreaded to sit on, had a random array of springs popping out of the cushions. "I was gonna trash the inside of yer car because you skipped out on my money, but it looks like you got to it before me…" Jack exhale noisily while starting up the jalopy of a car.

After the little episode in the morning involving the crapped out car and an even worse off boy, Jack's day went pretty routinely. He slept through the bulk of his classes, and when the time came, he ushered himself out of his study hall and down into the belly of the school. There, he filled Rai's car's tires with air, an act he normally would have done for free, but Jack and Rai never really got along that great… so a nice big reward would be waiting for him at the end of it all. It only took 10 minutes to fill up all the tires, leaving Jack with nothing to do for the remainder of the period, and he would be damned to hell before he was about to head back to class. So, as a common act of courtesy, after pulling on rubber gloves, a paper face mask, and his favourite pair of Welding goggles, Jack decided to clean out Rai's mess of a car.

There were things in there Jack dared not speak of, and other things he knew he had to immediately burn due to the fear of contaminating the entire school. But in the end, Rai's car could almost pass as being just a piece of junk, and no longer a piece of craptastic shit.

Luckily, study hall was Jack's last period of the day, so by the time he had finished, Rai was already standing outside the garage door waiting to be let in. But as Jack waved him in, he realized something was off. "Where's your girlfriend… isn't she, like, always clinging onto you by the end of the day?"

An almost tormented sigh escaped the young Brazilian's mouth as he edgily combed his fingers through his hair, "nah man, she broke up with me when I met up with her at her locker… said something about her having needs too, or some crap like that."

As bad as jack felt thinking this, he was almost happy to hear the news, those two as a couple were like the PDAs of the entire school, and he would be lying if he said he didn't have a little grade school crush on Kim. He always had, but that was uncharted territory for Jack, he was always too busy with his mechanics to have time for a relationship.

"Oh man, I'm sorry, "jack lied, as his inner self did back flips of while singing a happy little song, "listen, you don't need to give me the $20, just fork over the 5 bucks for my cleaning your car out and I'll be set." Jack took the money in his hands, and winced as he noticed the same sticky mess on it that was in his car. "OK, I have to know, WHAT is this sticky crap that's all over everything you own?"

Rai couldn't help but start to laugh, "my mom made me pick up, like, four cartons of juice at Sam's Club… big family, y'know? And, I dunno exactly how… but they all exploded in my car. I mean, juice was everywhere, hell, I still can't get the shit outta my hair!"

A smirk began to take hold of Jack's face as well, as he pictured Rai sitting at an intersection, listening to some tunes when, BAM! A giant juice bomb goes off in his car. By the end of the mental recreation, both boys were literally toppled over each other in hysterical fits of laughter. Once the hooting died down, jack spoke through little spurts of giggles, "alright l-listen, I gotta, I gotta head out. You make sure you don't go buying any more… any more of that self detonating juice, Got it?"

"Sure, and Spicer?"

Jack had already begun to head out to his own car, "yeah?"

"Maybe I read you wrong… sorry about the whole, calling you queer thing. It's the eye liner and face coverup, y'know?"

"It's all good, I guess I read you wrong too." Jack turned around and pointed to his pale whit face, "and for the record, this isn't face paint, I'm just _really_ pale, I just do the eyes."

Rai blinked in surprise, he had never met a guy as pale as Jack before, "hey, maybe we should hang out some time!"

Jack stopped in his tracks, "yeh… maybe!" he called back, and then climbed into his own car.

Relieved to be in a car he was familiar with, Jack slunk down in his driver's seat and turned on the heat, it still was rather cold outside. "What a weird day… of all the people to make friends with, Raimundo Pedrosa, oh well, what ever." Jack was lost in his own thoughts as he pulled out of his parking space and turned to head out onto the road, but was quickly dragged back into reality as the sound of a girl screaming at him caught his ears. Jack focused his attention to the road ahead of him and came to realize that he was about to hit someone. Upon impulse, he slammed on the breaks and came screeching to a halt.

The girl immediately marched up to his side of the car and demanded he opened his window. Grunting in aggravation, Jack did as he was told and let the window come down.

The girl, standing opposite of him was none other than Rai's Ex- girlfriend, Kimiko Tohomiko. Her face was red with rage as she stared in on him, "do you have any idea what you're doing behind that wheel!" she screeched, causing Jack to lean back away from her. God she could be loud. "You almost ran me over!" she put one hand on her hips and continued, "do you realize how much trouble you'd be in if you hit me!"

Leaning out of the car a little, Jack smirked up at her, "am I about to find out?" Before jack could get another word out, a swift slap came to his face, jerking his head to the side. "OW! What was that for?" he whined, while rubbing at his bright red cheek.

"What did you mean by that?" she nearly hissed, while scrunching up her nose in distaste.

"Sorry if I came off weird, your highness, I was just thinking about something else." And then, without warning, another slap came, this time more fierce then the last. "Jesus Christ woman, what was that for!" That time, jack could feel his brain start to dislodge out of his ears.

Kimiko glared at him with venom practically dripping from her eyes (weird picture, no?). "You're such a pervert! Open your car door and let me in."

Ok, now jack was thoroughly confused, "what?"

"Open your car door and let me in, you're giving me a ride home for almost hitting me." Jack fumbled with the lock, but had it open by the time Kim made it around the car. When she sat down beside him, it was like she had already forgotten about almost getting hit

_"Looks like her temper is as short as her memory,"_ jack thought with a chuckle.


	2. As the Dodge Balls Spin

Alright, I might as well get this out right now. Thanks so much for the reviews, you all rock. So, because you all replied so promptly, here's another chapter filled with goodness for you all! Enjoy x)

CH.2 !

Jack had dropped Kimiko off at her house and was now sitting at the desk he set up in his basement. He had a few scattered blue prints out, all filed to the brim with his plans on how to upgrade his game system… which, I might add, is of his own design. But none of that mattered to him, his head was filled and buzzing with the past day's events. Within one day, jack had gone from being an elitist with a very specific group of cronies- er, I mean friends, to gaining two new, somehow different than the rest, buds.

Rai was a character all in his own. Jack had never taken the time to talk with him, mainly because he was your typical soccer playing, muscle strutting, jock, and Jack… well Jack was the anti of all that. But now Jack had come to recognize that that old saying about opposites attracting was all true. Rai had a sense of humor unique to anyone he had ever met; even his closely knit network of friends couldn't make him laugh that hard. And because Jack knew that no self respecting cashier would ever take that grimy $5 bill into their hands, he made sure to stick it up on the wall next to his bedpost. Of course, he used no glue at all; instead, the sticky juice-like secretions would be enough to hold it for all eternity… and then some.

Kimiko, however, was a completely different story. Jack couldn't be sure if she was his new friend, enemy, or worst nightmare, for that matter. If there was one word Jack could use to sum up the girl, it would have to be _crazy hot head._ Ok, so that was three words, but Jack could always just scrunch them together to form the ultra word, _crazyhothead_. There were instances during their drive home, where Jack wanted nothing more than to push her out of the moving car and out onto the freeway, but there were other times when he had to restrain himself from wrapping her up in a big, glompy bear hug. Hey, he couldn't help it… he _did_ have a crush on her since like… the 5th grade.

After fondly revisiting the events of the day over and over again in his memory, Jack decided it was best to retire early for the night. After all, he would need the rest; tomorrow was gym class.

The next day of school, Jack found himself rushing off to the boy's locker room to get ready for gym. The whole way there he cursed himself for sleeping in. The last thing he needed was to have his Gym teacher get twisted into a bad mood over his tardiness. As he rounded a corner he ran headlong into the big star of the football team, Clay Bailey, who had apparently just finished changing and was off to play some kick ball. Clay stood like a rock as Jack ricocheted off him and onto the ground. "You alright there, pardner?" the big cowboy of a kid asked.

"Swell," Jack huffed, while regaining his posture and walking off in even more of an awful mood than beforehand. He could here Clay saying something to the effect of _"glad ta here it, see ya down stairs,"_ but to be quite honest, Jack couldn't care in the least. The last thing he needed for his reputation would get caught talking with the country bumpkin, _Clay the Cowboy._

"This is ridiculous, this is _so_ ridiculous! I can't believe how friggin' ridiculous this is! They shouldn't make academically inclined students take gym." The boy grumbled like this for the entirety of the time it took to get himself changed, and most of the way down to the Gymnasium. In fact, he had only stopped once he went to open the gym door and heard his gym teachers terrifying voice come in full force to bombard him.

"Spicer!" he shrieked, while blowing his shiny, red whistle, signaling all the children to stop playing their game of kickball and to listen. "You are late to my class _and_ you wear the wrong type of shoes? You, my lowly boy, are a disappointment. What do you have to say in your defense?"

Completely taken aback by his teacher's rage with him, Jack stuttered out, "s-sorry sir, Mr. Young , Sir."

Mr. Young, however, never excepted apologies that easily, and felt that Jack should pay for insulting the fine class of Gym in front of him. "I will let you redeem yourself, because I am a compassionate person, but it will take some work on your part." Using his index finger as a pointer, he lead Jack across the gymnasium, "see there? Stand in place of that dummy, and all will be forgiven."

Jack stood obediently where he had been instructed, because he had heard the horror stories from kids who didn't listen to Mr. Young, while his teacher informed the class of the day's new activity. "It has been brought to my _attention_ that you all are lacking the skill of _aim_, a most important skill when it comes to the art of dodge ball. That's why I had brought down the CPR dummy from the health class, you were all going to stand at _point blank_ range from it and throw dodge balls at its face. But there has been a change of _plans_, Mr. Spicer, _here_, has volunteered to take the dummy's place."

If possible, at that very instant, Jack's entire face went a shade paler than it had been a minute ago. He looked on in horror as the entire class lined up in front of him, no further than 10 ft. away, and each with a rose red dodge ball in hand. The first of 20 kids wound up, readying himself for the shot, when he was stopped by a voice coming from the near back of the line. "Mr. Chase Young, sir… uhhh… I don't believe this is very practical. I mean, I don't really get how peggin' Jack like this is gonna help us turn into better Dodgeball players."

Jack and Clay stood side by side as the slew of juniors and seniors wound up to make the shot. Jack, now having Clay beside him, wasn't at all as frightened as before. Though incredibly selfish, Jack had made up his mind to just use Clay as a human shield when the time came. And when it did, let me tell you, it was like being on the battle front of some strangely odd war that used red rubber balls in the place of bullets.

To Jack, it almost seemed like a slow motion shot taken directly out of some big motion picture film… perhaps the _Chronicles of Riddick_. The dodge balls flew in from all directions, and just when Jack was about to duck behind Clay's massive body, something out of the ordinary happened. Clay jumped in front of him, taking on all the arsenal himself. Jack watched form behind as Clay stood with his chest puffed out. "This… this is amazing… is that country bumpkin taking all the heat for me?" For a short instance, Jack peered around Clay's massive shoulders to see that he was, indeed, taking all the blows for Jack.

Confused, bewildered, and a little shaken, Jack left the gym class with Clay by his side. "What was that for?" he asked, peering up at the massive boy.

The words Clay spoke were kind, "well, ya see. I figured you an' I never really get to talkin' much. An' then I saw you up there, 'bout to get pummeled in like a beef slab my momma's fixin' to cook, an' well… I thought it might be a good time to set things right between us."

To be honest, Jack was at a loss for words. Was Clay trying to tell him that he thought Jack was weak? Or was he just trying to be nice. Either way, Jack wasn't having any of it, because it didn't matter what angle you looked at it from, every spin you put on it pointed straight to pity favors, and Jack Spicer needs no pity. "Listen _Clay_, I'm real touched you put yourself through that to protect fragile little me-"

"Oh, it's no problem pardner."

Jack's expression went flat, "I wasn't done yet, _cowboy_. I just want to make it perfectly clear to you that I could have handled it on my own. I don't need your country ass tryin' to save me when a few kids with rubber balls come at me, got it?" The boy would have continued further, if it wasn't for the fact that Clay had already wandered off into another hallway…presumably to get away from Jack and his bitching. But it didn't really matter, because now Jack had caught sight of a far more endearing person than Clay Cowpoke 101.

Kimiko was just heading out of her Math class, completely flogged by a group of her yuppie friends. Not sure what to do, Jack slowly edged his way up to her, making sure not to look too obvious, but at the same time, letting her know he was coming for her. But just before he was about to open his mouth and let out a few words, something in him decided it would be better to just wimp out and walk away. However, Kim, realizing that Jack hadn't been heading over to talk with her after all (or so she thought) decided this to be the opportune moment to get a laugh.

With the speed of greased lightning, she shot her leg right in front of Jack's path. Before he knew what had hit him, he was laying face first on the linoleum tiles of the east-wing hall, while entire flocks of teens stood and gawked at his embarrassing fumble. Amongst some of the kids who were laughing, was Kimiko and her friends. "Jack, you're so awkward," she tee-heed, while looking back to her comrades for support. With the new found esteem-boost provided by those with her, she went on, "can you get any clumsier? It's like you have one left foot and a peg leg… it's embarrassing, really. They should just call you Peg Legged Jack the Pitiful Pirate. Hey, that really works out nicely!"

It was indescribable, the anger Jack felt toward the girl at that moment in time. One more comment out of her snide mouth and he swore he would billow steam from his ears and rip her to shreds. But to Jack's great undying luck, there wouldn't be, because out of nowhere, a familiar face showed itself through the masses of bored school kids.

Raimundo came bounding down the hall at him. One hand was balled up into a fist and the other was used to push innocent bystanders aside. He was shouting through such thick sheets of rage, even Jimmy, the angriest kid in school, couldn't understand him.

That was it, the jig was up. Rai must have obviously figured out that Jack had a crush on his ex-girlfriend. And everyone knows the code… y'know, the one where you don't date your friend's ex, it was just a sneaky and snake like thing to do. But had Rai really gotten the chance to get to know Jack, he would have realized that that was all Jack really was; a sneaky snake. In an attempt to surrender before the beating began, Jack put his hands up, hand cuff style, to prove he would go quietly. But just as Jack was about to beg for Rai's mercy (because you just don't mess with a kid who's got fangs and devil horns on at the moment) the unthinkable happened.

Instead of bowling over Jack, which is what everyone watching had been hoping for, Rai tackled Kimiko to the ground instead. Now that he was face to face with his adversary, his words became slightly more comprehensible, "you stupid piece of crap, jerk! I swear! You always have to try and ruin everything I have going for me. But what did Jack ever do to you, except show you up at being a better friend to me than your sorry ass!"

Jack had to be honest, that was a complete shocker. Especially because he was about to double cross Rai right then and there. But here Rai was, just trying to be a genuinely good friend, if not a bit on the over protective side. As the two of them stood themselves back up and brushed the hallway dirt off their clothes Kim adorned her patented pouty face. "oh Raimundo, I'm hurt to here you say such mean things to me, especially because I was only going to ask your friend for a ride home after school's let out."

Both Raimundo and Jack made the universally known "whuh?" face at each other, and then looked on at Kim with disbelief. "… What do you mean… you want me to give you a ride home?" This girl was driving Jack up the wall. First she trips him and publicly humiliates him, and then she's asking for another ride home.

Batting her lashes profusely, Kim went on, "well yeah, Jack, here, was so nice to me while he drove me home yesterday, I thought maybe we could do it again today!" Without saying another word, she skipped off merrily with her team of super friends, leaving the two perplexed boys in her dust.

Rai walked with jack the rest of the way to their Chem class, honing in on a few questions he would like to take up with his new "so called" amigo. As they entered the class, he decided to drop the first question, "so, Jack man, you gave Kim a ride home yesterday?"

Jack held up his hands in defense, "well… it's not like I wanted to or anything," the two took their seats, "it's like this. I wasn't exactly paying attention to the road while I drove out of here yesterday, and well… I think I almost hit your ex-girlfriend."

"You almost hit her?" Rai's face went bleak and sallow for a second, and then came back to life with newly birthed fits of laughter. "That's great!." He went on sniggering about this new image that had just been placed in his head for a couple of moments more, and then got back to his talk with Jack. "So then, why was it that you had to give her a ride home, then?"

Figuring he wasn't completely lying, Jack went on to tell Rai his story without feeling the least bit guilty. "She, like, completely forced me into it. Damn… she's scary, man!" This last comment only erupted more chuckles from his buddy. In fact, he only stopped because the teacher stepped in, wanting to get class underway. "Tell me the rest later." He whispered, while putting on his innocent school boy face, and looking up at the chalkboard.

After class, Raimundo had Jack walk with him to every subject he had next on his agenda, in order that he could tell him the story about how he almost ran Kimiko over, again and again. Each time Jack reiterated it to him, it seemed to become more and more hilarious. For the most part, this was how Jack's day carried on, pretty much all the way through until his lovely study hall.

Once again, he found himself, by his lonesome I the deep cellars of the school. Though he enjoyed the company of his new friends, he still much preferred the silence and solitude to all their yapping. As he pulled his welding goggles over his eyes, preparing to singe the ends of some metal wires to a circuit board, his usual confidant smirk curled upon his lips. He hummed a little tune to himself while sparks went flying, feeling completely at one with his element. It was only after he pulled the goggles on that he was free to let his mind wander.

What was with that girl, Kimiko? She ran either hot or cold, there was no happy medium for her. Jack knew how he felt about her, but he could never get a clear message from her end. Though, it didn't really matter in the end. He liked it when she played games with him; not matter how cruel and nasty they were. As Jack finished up for the day, he decided he would just have to ride this wave out and see whether or not it would leave him stranded on a desert island, or take him up onto it's beach. But one thing was for sure, he would have to play things careful. If he didn't, he could lose either a great new companion, namely Raimundo, or his crush since the 5th grade. Why couldn't things be easy for him?

Ok, so that's it for Chapter 2. tell me what you think, won't you?


	3. By The Forces of Nature

Ok, so this chap is a little bit out there, but bear with me. I needed some force to bring Jack and Kimiko closer together, so I thought… why not the forces of nature! Enjoy, and thanks for all the reviews! Oh, and for those of you that are out there who happen to be sensitive toward the F- bomb, I must warn you that it is dropped by Jack later on in the chapter.

CHAPTER 3

It had begun to rain out, making driving conditions less than desirable. Jack had Kim sitting next to him, yammering away about how funny it was when she had tripped him earlier that day. Honestly, Jack didn't need it right now. He had enough to deal with, what with his testing of his chances on route 91 in a rain storm such as this. The weather had been really whacky lately; wasn't it only a few days ago when it had been nearly below freezing outside? And now look at it… it was warm enough to rain! But, sadly, it wasn't warm enough to make Jack's drive home any more enjoyable.

"Eh… Kim, listen. I sorta need to concentrate right now, or we could very well end up in some trench on the side of the highway. Ok?" This was Jack's nicest attempt to try and shut the girl up. Until she fessed up to however she felt about him, Jack was going to treat her the same way she treated him- like an unwanted poo stain.

Kimiko wasn't hearing it though. She'd rather tell Jack about how funny he looked with his face planted into the ground by the means of her boot. "Oh c'mon Jack. You need to seriously lighten up," as she spoke, she blew an obnoxiously large bubble from her gum, only to start pulling at it with her tiny fingers.

Jack looked on in disgust, "now I know where all those wads of gum came from in Rai's car," he thought aloud. Kim only rolled her eyes in response. After that, for a good deal of time, the both of them sat in begrudging silence. The only sounds to be heard were that of the windshield wipers and the intense pitter-patter of the rain on the car. The longer they drove, the more the storm seemed to pick up.

It had gotten so bad, at times, that Jack had to pull off to the side of the road to wait for the downpour to lighten up. Crashes of thunder could be heard swelling in the not too far off distance, making the two just a bit more jumpy than they would like.

After yet another torrential downpour had passed, Jack pulled out back onto the highway, only a little unsure behind the wheel. "Let's see what the weather guy has to say about this." As jack pressed on the radio dial, he looked edgily up at the hazy green sky. The speakers crackled as the bad reception pushed its way through-

"_And for all you out on the road, we suggest you get yourself off of it. The sudden warm front coming up from the south has really stirred up quite a bit of trouble. The low atmospheric pressure is flowing in right along with that pesky warm front, making for some nasty weather and some possible tornado warnings. Right now, a tornado watch is in effect, and will remain in effect until further notice."_ Tacky radio station, calling card music sounded_, "Make sure you stay tuned with 100.6 OMFG for more weather reports."_

Both passengers in Jack's Toy Sport Car wore faces stricken of all expression. They drove along at the same pace they had been going for the past few miles, but soon Jack's nerves got the best of him and he stepped on the gas. It wasn't like it really mattered anyway; his car was the only one on the highway.

As they sped by, Kim balled up in her seat beside him. If there was one thing she hated, it was tornados. Come to think of it, she never actually experienced a tornado, and that might have had something to do with why she was so terrified. Either way, she would rather not become familiar with the feeling of hiding in a basement for her life.

Only a few more miles down the road, and it had become very apparent to Jack that Kim's house was a bit of a stretch. That is, if they wanted to make it there in time to save both their necks, at least. Realizing this, he offered up a brilliant idea. "I have a plan. Let's not risk getting killed anymore than we are now, and skip driving all the way out to your place, and head to mine." With her own bitchy attitude rearing its ugly head for a moment, she scrunched up her nose as a sign of her disapproval. Jack couldn't believe this, here they were, trying their best to stay alive, and Kimiko would rather be difficult. But in a situation such as this, I was best if the driver of the vehicle didn't loose his head, so instead, he opted to try and be understanding. "Ok. I understand why you would want to be in your own home at a time like this, but don't you think that our safety is more important than your absolute comfort?"

The answer Kimiko gave him was only slightly more than appalling. "Well, I'll be safe if you drop me of at my house… then all we have to worry about is you. I think it's a much better gamble to have at least one of us live, then getting both of us killed.

"

Jack's jaw slacked open in horror. Could she really be that self-centered? "Alright, I'm just gonna ignore that because I have a _better_ plan." Jack paused as he peeled out onto the next exit ramp, his car's tires kicking up waves of water every where, "we both go to my house and no one gets sucked up into a vortex of Death!"

Kimiko spent the remainder of the ride to Jack's house wishing she hadn't gotten him upset. She learned very quickly that an angry Jack behind the wheel was not a safe Jack behind the wheel. They were speeding at, at least 95mph the rest of the way home, and Jack never once paid attention to any stoplights, signs or on coming traffic, how ever little there might have been. There was even an instance where a massive tree branch had fallen into the middle of the road blocking their way. But Jack didn't turn back to find another route, oh no, he simply sped up onto some random guy's lawn and drove around it. Needless to say, Jack had them both at his house in record time.

The dark and blustery sky only added to the Spicer Mansion's looming effect. In a mad dash, the pair made their way to the front door where Jack fumbled with his keys, but eventually got the lock to give way. Before either of them had the chance to turn the knob, the wind blew the door in for them. Without a single moment wasted, they rushed in, leaning heavily on the door behind them until it finally shut.

Relieved that the brunt of the experience was behind them, Jack pulled his long fingers through his hair in an attempt to calm himself further. "Good news," he said cheerily in an effort to brighten the mood, "we still have power." He flicked on the light switch only to come to realize that he had spoken too soon. He was right… they _did_ have power, and it lasted for a grand total of perhaps 5 seconds before cutting out. The whole house went black, and the unmistakable sound of electronics shutting down could be heard from every corridor of the mansion. From surprise, and nothing more, Kim let out a little _meep_ of fright. "Don't worry, I can just go down into the basement and rewire the circuit breakers so the flood lights will turn on." He turned to head down to the basement and made maybe a good three steps of headway before he was stopped by Kim latching onto his arm. "What in the heck do you think you're doing? I'm just going down to the basement for a sec, and then I'll be back up with you." Kim grumbled something inaudible and only tightened her grip on Jack's forearm. "Wait…" he drawled, now beginning to piece the situation together, "you're not afraid of the dark… are you?"

"No!" Kim lied, releasing his arm and crossing her own at her chest, "I just couldn't see for a second. But now my eyes are used to the dark so I don't need you for a crutch anymore." Kimiko waited for a moment longer, hoping that Jack would now go down to fix the lights as he had promised, but he jut stood there. "What in the hell are you waiting for?" she snapped.

"Ok, ok, I'm going!" he laughed as he made his way throughout the dimmed house and to the cellar door. Jack had disappeared from Kim's sight, but that didn't mean she couldn't still here him. The heavy boots he wore clomped down the basement stares about 3 or 4 steps and then stopped abruptly. After a pause from Jack's end that felt like an eternity, he called up to her to report some rather unfortunate news. "Uhh… Kim? We got a little problem."

Panic overtook the young Japanese girl faster than the time she thought an alligator was under her bed (long story). "What? What!" she cried while running half hazardly to the basement stairwell.

"Jeeze, cool your jets. Some water just leaked into the basement… well OK, a little more than some. Sorry, but there's _no_ way I'm messing with open circuits when there's water around. Looks like where gonna do this the old fashioned way." Soon after he said this, Jack emerged form the depths of his basement, trailing water from his now soaked shoes. He could tell by the way Kimiko was acting, that she was thoroughly freaked out by the whole situation, so he brought her over to the living room couch to sit her down. "I'm gonna go right over there," he pointed in the direction of which he spoke, "see? Just over there, and grab us some flash lights and candles. I'll be right back, do you think you'll be alright?" Kimiko nodded, not quite able to speak, as it was always tough for her to do so in situations such as this. As jack walked out of the room he called over his shoulder, "do you want me to make you some hot cocoa? I'm gonna get a cup."

Kim just stared at him confused, "I- I thought you had no power. You can't make cocoa without electricity."

"Hellooo? Gas stove? You don't need electricity when you're working with a gas stove. So do you want any or not?"

For lack of better things to say, Kim agreed, and let Jack be while he milled around in his kitchen. After sitting for so long in the dark, with no one else but yourself to keep you occupied, one might begin to allow their mind to wander. Naturally, after so long, Kim did the same. "This is so weird… I'm not quite getting where this kid is going. It's like he's Mr. Nice guy of the century, one second, and then the next he's Mr. I'm Going To Act All Crazy and Run Down Innocent People In My Car Because You Upset Me." During the time she allowed her mind to reel, while trying desperately to piece together the puzzle that was Jack Spicer, Jack was out in the kitchen with similar thoughts.

…or not… "Why the fuck don't we have any cocoa mix! All I ask for is some powdered chocolate, but no! They can't even give me that! It's like the whole world is against me today, and I can't do anything about it but bitch and moan!" he shut the last of the pantry doors and crossed his arms while making his jack Spicer Pouty face. "Whatever, I'll just make my own… how hard could it be?" How hard could it be indeed? It didn't take the late teen too long to figure out that, though he was a master at mechanics, his cooking skills were less then average. It seemed that he might be a whiz when it came to a blow torch and wrenches, but wielding a pot and pan left him feeling as though he was lacking some basic motor skills...or all of them. He was so bad, in fact, that he might as well have burnt the water. But in the end, after much toil, he related cooking to simple physics and was able to pull it off.

Kimiko looked up, her eyes now truly adjusted to the dim settings, to see Jack walk out confidently with two cups of molten hot chocolate in each hand. "Took you long enough," she spat as she snatched a cup clear out of his grasp.

"Y'know, a thankyou would have been a far better thing to say, _Kimiko_." His eyes narrowed while he took his seat beside her, only to have to get back up rather quickly due to Kim's onslaught of bitching.

"What, no whipped cream? My poppa always gives me whipped cream with my hot cocoa."

Jack could feel his grip on reality loosening, anger setting in once more. The more upset he became with her, the more and more his vision became spotted with red. "Oh," he hissed, clenching his teeth down for fear of loosing control and biting her head off, "my mistake… let me get you some." While he made his way back into the kitchen he made sure to never loose sight of her, his eyes constantly fixed on her smirking lips.

"She wants whipped cream, does she?" he mouthed, while opening up the fridge door. Jack had seen the movie _Waiting,_ and he was savvy to the way waiters treated ungrateful customers. In one hand, he held the can of whipped cream and in the other was a carton of cream cheese. With an expression strewn across his face that screamed '_evil genius'_ he stirred the two select ingredients in, making a most revolting concoction. "And here's some extra fudge sauce." With a smug grin, he lowered his head down to her cup of tarnished cocoa and let a strand of saliva linger over the steamy surface of the beverage. It was just about to make contact when it was pulled away by Jack's jerking head. In shock, he had looked outward toward a window. Something was off

Forgetting all about his revenge, he dashed over to the side of his kitchen window to see perhaps the most inviting image all day. The clouds were breaking. The rain was letting up, and the wind was just starting to die down. To Jack's great relief, the Tornado warning had been a flop. Every thing was going to be alright, and his house wasn't going to get sucked up into anything that resembled hell. Now, only one thing more could be done to top his Sunday with a great big cherry.

"And here's you're hot chocolate_ with_ the whipped cream, as you requested, _and_ some extra fudge to make it even yummier!" With all the cheer and happiness in the world radiating from his being, he handed the steaming cup of cocoa back over to Kimiko.

She looked at it suspiciously, "why are you so happy?" Jack only shrugged, playing like he was just in an exceptionally good mood at the time. Having been convinced enough that this was the case, knowing that Jack was susceptible to sudden mood swings, she raised the cup to her lips. The breath was held deep within Jack's throat as he looked on anxiously, hoping for a good show. Hesitantly, she pulled the cup away from slowly warming smile. "This is… this is… Great!" This was not the reaction Jack was looking for… but still, she _did_ drink it. "It has this… oh I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's like this sort of zing to the taste. It's amazing!"

Jack scratched at the back of his head, "Yeah, well… it must be the fudge sauce I put it. Family recipe, y'know." Kim nodded in understanding. This was perfect; he couldn't wait to tell Rai all about this the next day at school. Fridays were always his favorite school day, and this would be the icing on the cake.

Yippee! And that's the end of that chapter, literally. All right, for all of you out there who are reading this, I have a favor to ask… not a big one though. I seem to be stuck on whether I should turn this into a JackxKim story, or a RaixJack fic. Or, I was looking into perhaps creating some intense rivalries, but again, between whom? I don't know. So if you guys have any suggestions I would love to here them, and will take them all into account. Also, where do you think I should have Omi come in?

Thanks much!

Meg


	4. An Invitation That Opened Many Doors

I hope everyone enjoys the decision I came to about the pairing situation. It wont be that apparent in this chapter, but it will be in later ones. After looking over most of the reviews I received, it became obvious to me that there was only one clear choice. I hope you all enjoy it!

!PART ONE!

Friday was finally here, and in Jack's opinion, there was no better day of the week than this. Saturdays were for sleeping in and staying up late… so there was generally never any sunlight to be seen, and Sundays were just depressing. But on Fridays everything happened. School was ending for a solid couple of days, people were out doin' there thing… and who could forget about all the crazy parties?

Yes, Fridays were amazing, and this Friday was about to get just a little better. It all went down during Jack's AP Calc Class. He was busy plotting mathematic logarithms when, to his surprise, Kieko, Kim's right hand man…or girl, rather, came strutting up to his desk. With a snarl, she made it sweet and simple for the boy, "ok, I don't know why Kim would do this, but she wants to invite you to her birthday party tonight." She took a moment to pull out an envelope from her binder, "so… here, make sure to be there by 7 and bring her a present or else." With a flip of her hair, she trotted off to sit back down with her little clique of friends.

Pushing aside his class work, Jack set the envelope on his desk. It was pink, had butterfly stickers on it and smelled like strawberries. But he wasn't opening it… he was just sort of staring vacantly at it like it might bite off his head or stain his clothes if he got too close. To speak truthfully, Jack wasn't sure if he _ever_ wanted to open it, he and Kim weren't the nicest of people to each other, leading him to have some suspicions of a set up. But eventually, curiosity got the best of the boy, and he ripped into it like a kid with a present on Xmas day. It read as follows:

_You Have Been Invited to the Party of Parties!_

_It's Kim's 17th b-day and a bash is in order!_

_Where? At my place and if you don't know where that is… why were you invited?_

_When? Dec. 10th, 7 PM until the cops come... Stay the night if you wish_

_RSVP: Do it some time before the party, otherwise you're off the guest list._

_And just remember, this is a birthday party, so be sure to bring gifts and party swag._

Then there was a part written by Kim, herself, just for Jack.

_I expect you to be there, Spicer, and you better get me something nice. Kimiko_

Well if that last part wasn't a kill joy, Jack didn't know what was. Not knowing quite how he felt about this invite, he decided it was best to push it out of his mind for the time being and redirect his attention to his math. Maybe later on, during lunch perhaps, he would run the whole scenario by Rai.

The lunch room was filled with all its usual aromas of rotten meat and catsup, and no matter how long you had been attending the school and how used to the stench you had become, it always managed to hit you like a wall when that first step was taken into the lunch room. Jack waited for his face to turn back to its normal pale color from the grey/green luster it was currently sporting. Once the wave had passed him, and his nostrils had adjusted to the stink, Jack made his way toward the lunch line, where he hoped to find Raimundo.

Sure enough, Rai was standing in line… he was always in line during pizza day, but he was with someone else. There, chumming around with him was Clay the Cowpoke Football Dynamo. Jack would have walked right up to the both of them to pitch in with their conversation, but he seemed to recall how rude he had been to Clay that one day after Gym class. It would make for a pretty awkward situation if he just started acting like it never happened. Although, he seemed to have been getting into a lot of uncomfortable situations ever since he was acquainted with Rai and Kim… so technically, he should be getting used to it by now. Either way, Jack didn't find his talking with Rai urgent enough to go through all the trouble. He would just catch him another time.

The heels on his shoes had just spun to walk away when he heard a thick southern accent calling out to him over the masses of people in line. "Hey Pardner! Rai here, wants ya t'come on up here and chat with us!"

Had he already forgotten? Was that possible? Did he have the memory of a goldfish or what? Taking in a well drawn out breath of stale air, Jack pushed his way on through the crowd of people up to where Rai and Clay were standing. "Hey guys, whatsup?"

Raimundo was just getting through with laughing over something Clay had told him only a second ago. As he wiped a tear away from the corner of his eye, he looked up at Jack's questioning expression and told him what he had heard. "Clay just told me that Kim is throwing herself a _Super 17_ birthday party. He's been invited, so he's just gonna go, but I was telling him that it would be pretty sweet if you and I went and trashed it. Y'know, we could bring toilet paper and silly string and the works! It'll be great, I can't wait to see the look on that girl's face when we-"

"Uhh… Rai? I've been invited too." Jack wasn't sure how his buddy would take it, but his reaction wasn't as bad as he had expected.

First came the look of dejection, swiftly followed by a sneer of anger. This lasted for only a few short seconds, and then Rai was back to being his normal, cocky self. "Damn, am I, like, the only guy in this whole school who hasn't been invited!"

In an effort to make his friend feel better, Clay, who had been listening off to the side, took on a chipper tone. "Hey, don't you worry none. I'm sure there's loads of people who haven't been invited." The cowboy paused to point out a lunch table in the far back corner of the cafeteria, "Why look at those kids, I doubt they've been invited their whole life on account a' they look lonelier than dog without his fleas."

With a scoff, Jack went into thought for a brief moment. Did Clay ever stop and think about what he said before blowing it out of his giant yap of a mouth for the whole damn world to hear? First of all, if _he_ had fleas… which he didn't, just to make everything perfectly clear, he would **_not_** be missing them if they left. In fact, he would probably be less lonely than before hand, because now he would have friends who before hand wouldn't touch him with a 10 yard stick because he had had FLEAS!

With a crestfallen groan, Rai looked on at the table of kids Clay had mentioned. "Yeah, but look at them. Clay man, you just compared me to a bunch of kids who don't know what soap _or_ puberty is. That's harsh."

"Allow me to reiterate to you what our big lug of a fella, Clay, here was trying to say." It was official, no matter how hard Jack tried to play nice with Clay, he couldn't help knockin' him for his country bumpkin up brining. (A/N: I just want you to know that I have nothing against southerners. Jack is just a bit of a jerk.). "You, Rai, shouldn't feel badly about not being invited because there are plenty of other students who haven't been invited to this crap of a party. You may be the only one of the _cool_ kids who hasn't been asked to make an appearance, but you and her have a history so it's understandable." Proud of his pep talk, Jack smiled confidently and tilted his head to the far side with a smirk. "There, did that do anything for ya?"

"Aside from making me feel like one of the corner kids? No… no, not really" The crusty old lunch lady from behind the counter called Clay up to get his personal sized slice of pizza, while he stood there, an idea dawned upon our star soccer player. "Hey Jack! You and Kim aren't that close, and I've seen what a bitch she can be to you… why don't you work with me as the inside man!"

Needless to say, Jack was tickled pink and all other array of colors by this stunning proposition. "Go on," he cooed, while walking up to get his own pizza.

"I dunno man, like, why don't we work as a team and, like, make her some ridiculously outrageous present or something. Like get her Depends!" The wheels were definitely spinning in Rai's head by now, "yeah, and you could stop by my place today after school to get everything set for the party tonight! Clay, you wanna come?"

Clay, who was now picking up a pudding cup, piece of cake, and a doughnut to stuff on his already overloaded tray, turned to shake his head, "no sir, this one is all you guys, I'd feel lower than a varmint if I ever did something like that to Kimiko on her Birthday."

"Suite yourself, bro. But Jack," he said, redirecting his gaze toward his partner in crime, "I need to just warn you about two things before you stop by; 1, there are tree branches fallen down all over the road from that storm a few days ago, so you might wanna just park up at the top of the street, and 2, my little cousin is gonna be over, he's not a bad kid… just different, and well, I just thought it would be fair to give you a heads up about my having to baby-sit him." Jack saw no problem with this, so he agreed and went along with rai's plan willingly.

Tree branches littered Tornami Lane, not only making it impossible to park on, but difficult to navigate through on foot. And these weren't your little embarrassment to the world of trees; tiny twigs… these things were massive. The full way down the street, Jack had to dodge and weave through thorny stems and limbs that would every so often catch him in the eyes. At one specific point, Jack found him self teetering over a particularly large tree branch, in hopes of hopping over it. In the end, he had cleared it; however, it was ultimately at the expense of his manhood, as a tricky stick nearly ended his life as a man as he knew it. "holy shit!" he managed to squeeze out, while crouching over and wincing in pain.

After he had recuperated, he was back on his feet, making sure to be very careful of any potentially life threatening sticks, twigs, branches, and or tree limbs. But finally, after nearly a half hour of scrambling about like a wounded squirrel, he arrived a Rai's front door. Before ringing the bell, Jack read the doormat beneath his feet. "_God would wipe his feet, you should too._ Religious much?" Jack shook his head, laughing softly over Rai's family. Raising one single finger, he pressed down on the doorbell, expecting to hear a chime, but instead got a light show as sparks went flying out in his direction and the sound of circuits fizzling out could be heard. "The fuck?"

Apparently, though, that was all the warning it took to let Rai know Jack had arrived. The door swung open, revealing a grinning boy with a box of Chinese food in his hand. "You like my new door bell? My little cousin pulled some stupid flying kick move, pretending it was _the enemy_ and this is what I got out of it." not quite sure in how to respond to this, Jack slowly nodded his head and smiled while following his friend into the confines of his house. Riamundo spoke as they headed toward his kitchen, "so yeah, this is casa de Pedrosa, any mess you may find… which is like… everywhere, is courtesy of my 8 bros and sisses."

Alright, Jack was under the impression the Rai came from a large family, _but **8** brothers and sisters!_ As Jack maneuvered through the mine field of junk and toys he raised up a smart question, "so, like, what? Are you the oldest or something?"

Rai stared at him blankly, trying to remember at the moment, "uhh, oh yeah. Almost, I got one older brother, but Marco's out in college now, so I'm the man of the house… well, aside form my old man, that is." Jack couldn't begin to try and imagine what it must be like to have that many siblings, he was an only child, and although it tended to get lonely at times, he didn't think he could handle it any other way.

As the two of them rounded a corner, they found themselves looking in on a strange little boy, who just happened to be sitting at the kitchen table enjoying an apple juice box at the moment. His head was rather large for his body, and completely stricken of all hair, save for the eyebrows. "Hello friends!" the boy spewed while getting up from his chair to confront the both of them. The kid's head reached up, maybe, to Jack's lower thigh, if even that. "Raimundo, who is your curious accomplice?"

"Ok, Jack, this is my little cousin 4 times removed, and Omi, this is Jack Spicer, Evil Boy Genius." This took Jack off guard, since when was he evil? He looked to his friend quizzically.

"Just watch." Was the only response Rai gave him. Omi, who had been taken aback by Jack's great title, shook himself out of the shock and instantly leapt up onto the table top, martial art style.

Pointing an accusing finger, Omi shouted outright toward Jack, "you, Jack Spicer, are a threat to the Xiaolin way of life, and shall suffer the consequences!" without warning, Omi leapt back down off of the table, and practically flew in the direction of the very confused boy. Then, in a storm of hailing fists and kicks, Jack was brought down to the floor by the tiny titan.

"Ahhh! What the hell is this! Get it off Rai! Get! It! Off!" However, Rai was off in the corner, laughing too hard to be of any assistance, leaving Jack to fend for himself against the little monster of a kid. Each blow Jack took was like a tiny little stab, it was horrible, but not unbearable. After only a few over exerted seconds, little Omi calmed himself and jumped away from the crippled Jack.

"Surrender now, Jack Spicer, or suffer a most humiliating defeat!" Omi's eyes glinted with malice as he resumed some sort of fighting stance.

"Ok, OK! I surrender! For the love of god, I surrender!" Jack backed away quickly, cornering himself in between a table and the wall, with no where to run, but into his pint sized opponent.

Omi straitened himself up proudly and turned to his older cousin, "look Raimundo, I have returned our friend to the side of good!"

"That's great, now go play with some blocks in the kiddy room, k? I think Carmella's in there, you two could build a city to protect from evil." Rai watched his little cousin intently as he happily hopped out of the kitchen and into the next room. Afterward, he turned to Jack who was shooting him a death glare that said something like '_I am about to rip all of your hair off'_. Realizing this wasn't the greatest of times to ridicule Jack for getting his butt beaten two ways to Sunday, Rai decided to take on an opposite approach. "Ok, sorry, I couldn't resist."

There was a big purple bruise on Jack's forearm, and he cautiously pawed at it while looking over toward the playroom, "so… does he always greet your friends like that?"

"I'll explain it to ya." Rai lead Jack to a pair of seats by the counter in his kitchen. There the two boys sat while sipping on Margarita Mix and pineapple juice. It was non-alcoholic, so neither of them felt guilty. There Raimundo filled Jack in on his strange little cousin. He had said that he was visiting his family from far off in the middle of no where, China. They weren't really related, but Omi was an orphan, and a while ago, the Pedrosa family had signed up for this program, making the little Asian boy one of his relatives. As far as Jack could gather, Omi was some weird little monk kid, who trained at some temple, hoping to one day master the art of the Xiaolin Dragon, or some load like that. "Yeah, and he gets over excited when he hears about evil and stuff, I think it's the age, but, y'know… he'll grow out of it. He's under the impression that he's the protector of good or some load like that."

Now, at least, it all made sense. That was why Rai had told the squirt that Jack was Evil, he wanted to see how badly Jack could get beat by a toddler! "You…are an ass," he remarked dully, while rubbing at a sore spot on his neck.

Once the terrible twosome finished their refreshing drink mixes, they set to work planning for Kim's party surprise. Rai had been dead set on having Jack buy Kim a lovely box of Depends diapers for her birthday, but Jack had thought they could come up with something better.

"Well," Jack pondered, "why not call the Crashers?" Rai would be lying if he had said he knew who the guy was going on about, so he asked for an explanation. "The Crashers, as everyone has nick-named them, are these two people who love crashing parties. I mean, like annihilating parties until they're nothing but a pile of rubble and very upset people. You probably aren't familiar with them because one of them goes to college all the way out at Berkley, but the other just graduated and has them self a job here at this very school as a teacher. But, seriously, don't ask me how I know this… I guess I just have my sources. Come to think of it, I learned of them through one of my friends." A murky look rolled over Jack's red eyes as he thought back to when he last talked with his other friends aside from Rai and Kim. They would certainly be upset with him for not contacting them for the past couple of weeks. How could he just push them out of his life like that? It was so easy for him to do. Jack didn't much like the idea that his entire posse of goons was going to make an appearance at this party either. He knew he would have to confront them and see if they'd let him explain himself, but what could he say? _'Sorry, I have better friends now'?_ Yeah, that would go over great with them. As the silence went on, the boy grew more and more upset, not liking the idea of having to meet up with "the Gang" at Kim's social gathering. This, on the other hand, made him all the more relieved when his counterpart spoke up to shatter the blanketing silence.

"So how do I get in contact with _The Crashers_? Is there like I hotline I can reach them from… or maybe a web page?" This sounded like a great idea to Rai, having expert party crashers come to ruin Kimiko's birthday felt like a superb way to get back at her for the breakup. It wasn't like he was even that upset anymore, it just got to be really fun messing with her. And now that he had Jack as his inside man, this was going to be more than fun; it was going to be perfect.

Jack hadn't thought about contact info, but he _did _know who the one teacher was that owned the infamous title of Crasher #2. However, he'd be damned if he was going to be the one to talk with him. So, as a safety, Jack scribbled down the guy's name on a piece of scrap paper, telling Raimundo that any contact info should be in the school raster. When he handed the slip off to Rai, he could see the surprise written all over his face.

Do you remember those cartoons where the wolf or pig or something to that effect would get so shocked out of their wits that their jaw would drop to the floor? Yeah, that would have been Rai if he could unhinge his jaw like that. "No way! Oh man, no way! I can NOT talk with that man." He looked pleadingly to Jack for some support, but found that he would not be getting any, "dude, he'll, like, bite my head off or something."

Jack laughed while straitening up from his chair, "that's a risk _I'm_ willing to take if you want the Crashers to come to the party. Besides, he can't _really_ bite your head off, it's too big." For a second, Jack froze while a new thought sparked in his mind, "but listen, here's my cell number, call me before you and the Crashers get to the party… that way I can get out before everything gets all explode-y."

In the end, Jack had agreed to get Kim some Depends for a present, on top of some other things, and soon found himself cruising about the town in search of a place that sold adult diapers. After he got his conniving little hands on the Depends, he scuffled back to the car under their tremendous weight… he had bought the industrial pack. But still, something was off, he didn't feel right about all this, after all, if it were his birthday; he certainly wouldn't appreciate getting a face full of diapers as a present. So, on the way home, he pulled into the local jewelry shop and picked out a nice silver necklace for the girl, after all, it wasn't that big of a deal for him… he _was_ loaded after all.

XXXX

Whoop-dee-doo! This chap is complete-o. sorry it took so long for me to get it up… I had the craziest weekend. Anyway, who could these mysterious Crashers be, and what would Jack's friends do once he confronts them? All these questions and more will be answered in the next Chapter of HEYLIN HIGHSCHOOL! … I hope…


	5. Some Cuteness: Some Chaos

BLAAAGIDAGIDA GAAAAYAAAARRRRR ISHMOITSSSMUFFIN! Yeah, I know you know what that means; it means it's time for Chapter Five, Part Two, of Heylin High School! Oh, by the way,I rather enjoy this little guessing game we have going on about who these mysterious Crashers might be. You all make me smile!

ENJOY! Part II

The present for Kim sat wrapped with care on Jack's living room coffee table. The Depends sported a nice coating of toilet paper and duct tape, while the necklace and stick of gum Jack had decided to throw in, sat in their own separate box, swathed in shiny silver paper. Jack had really gone all out this time; he even made her a card out of construction paper and Crayola markers. It had a picture he'd drawn of her on its cover, in blue marker, and she was wearing a party hat and giving the finger. There, next to her, drawn in all green and purple outlining was a cat, a toboggan of some sort, an air plane (not drawn to scale), and a box of yams. Jack had never been an artist… but he hoped Kim would get it cuz he sure didn't.

"So I guess all that's really left for me to do is get myself ready." Leaving the presents on the table, Jack headed off to his room to pick out a better outfit than the one he was currently sporting, and possibly shower because he honestly couldn't remember when he had last done that. As he made his way up the flight of stairs to his room, he checked himself to see if he smelled. "Well I don't reek… so I must have showered not too long ago. But still, I would feel more comfortable showering before I left." With a look of guilt, Jack looked around his empty house, noticing that he was talking to himself once again. "gotta stop doin' that."

The shower felt so good, and he realized that even though he had apparently done this not too long ago, it was good that he had gone and done it again. As he stared down his nose at the water collecting by his feet, he realized that a murky grey color was swirling about within it from all the axel grease and oil he had been smothered in from shop that day. He had become so used to being coated in things like this, that he honestly didn't even notice.

After he finished with his shower, Jack found himself standing in front of a mirror making different faces at his reflection. There was the, 'I'm so sexy' look, and then the 'who are you? Get outta my house' look, and many more that were unique to the teenage boy. Upon further scrutinization of his face, Jack came to realize that he was in need of a good shave. Stubble was beginning to form on all the spots he had missed earlier that morning, but after having a good look around his bathroom, he came to realize that he must have brought his razor into the other upstairs bathroom, and he just didn't care enough to bother to get it. "Oh well, girls find guys with stubble sexy anyway."

Covered by only a towel, Jack shuffled back to his bedroom to pick out some _swanky_ clothes. After not too much thought, Jack decided to bail on the whole idea of trying to look nice for her party and just wore whatever the hell he felt like, which was a pair of brown Dickies and a black NIN shirt. It was a house party, anyways, so it's not like it was formal or anything. Jack laughed to himself, while heading downstairs, at an image of him showing up to the party in a polo shirt, neck tie, kaki shorts, tube socks and loafers. "Yep, I'm just that cool," he barely whispered, while picking up Kim's present and putting his car keys and wallet in his back pocket.

The massive present sat beside him in the passenger seat, as he pulled out of the driveway and started to roll out down the street. It sort of sucked that Rai wasn't going to show up until later, he would have made the party more fun if he went as a guest. But this was going to be good too. As Jack sped away, he cranked up his radio to that new song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Danny California. It was so loud, in fact, that he didn't seem to notice the clearly ringing sound of wailing Police sirens going off behind him. It was only when he looked up in his rearview mirror to see if he could switch lanes that he noticed his new friend. "Shit," he cursed under his breath, while pulling off the road. Sure enough, the cop car stopped right behind him, and a big man with a cowboy hat stepped out.

Jack tried to gather up an excuse for his speeding while the man strut over to the side of Jack's car. "D'you know how fast you were goin' there, son?" Jack had seen this guy before; he was always at his high school's football games. For a moment Jack didn't reply, still trying to figure out who this mystery man was, but it didn't take too long, because when he looked up to speak with the officer, he caught sight of the name on his uniform. Officer Bailey; it was Clay's dad! "Did ya hear me, boy!" he was now shouting at Jack from behind his aviator sun glasses.

"Fast?" Jack replied, clearly not knowing he was even speeding.

"Boy, you were goin' about 90… the speed limit's 60mph. Did ya know that?"

Jack gulped down hard, seeing clearly what was in his immediate future, "yes sir."

The cowboy cop scribbled out Jack's ticket and handed it off to him while asking, "you in some kinda hurry, son? Got some place you gotta be?"

With out an answer, Jack took the ticket up in his hands, rolled his eyes at the ridiculous amount, and pulled out back onto the highway. Because of that little stunt right there, Jack was going to be significantly late to Kim's party.

So, to make up for lost time, as soon as he was out of sight from the cop, he sped up faster than before hand, easily pushing 100mph, and kept his led foot down on the gas the rest of the way to Kim's house. All he could say was "thank God for this cinchy sports car of mine"

Jack was right, even with the speeding to make up for lost time; he was still 45 min. late. He could already hear that the party had progressed along nicely since it had started up. Loud music was booming and her friends were all over the place, outside, in the doorway, inside (he assumed) and lining the driveway as he drove up. Some giddy girls giggled as Jack parked his ride, clearly impressed by the car. A group of 10 to 12 girls flooded the driver's side of the car, making it near to impossible for him to climb out. "We really like your car," one bubbled as the rest of the girls agreed in unison.

Ugh… freshmen, if there was one thing that got on Jack's nerves faster then Kimiko when she was in one of those moods, it was screeching freshmen. "Ya think so?" He played coy while trying to ease the door open for easy escape, but it was not about to give way, at least not with the crowd that was around it.

"Later on, can you give us a ride in it?" the same girl asked, as again, like a flock of sheep, the group all nodded collectively.

This was getting to be too much for the guy. He kicked himself for not riding up in a pink and white Bigwheel with a gi-normous padded suit on to accompany his would be red, nerdy helmet. How was he going to get away from them? After much thought, he decided to ultimately wing it. "Well, ya see _ladies_, I'm really not in any position to be offering out any rides tonight," alright, everything was going smoothly so far, "but you see… my cat just passed away, and because it's the Holy Friday in Feline-ninaninism, the cat worshipping holiday… which I practice, I wouldn't feel right having any fun tonight."

Another girl, without missing a beat, came back at him with, "then why are you at a party?"

"I hate parties." Jack put on a very somber look and tried to get out of his car once more. This time, to his great fortune, the mass of preteen yuppies moved aside, letting him pass through. Jack walked to the other side of the car to grab his humungous present, only to find that he was being hounded. "Is there something else?" he asked while pulling boxes out of his passenger seat and locking up.

The girls all began to giggle again, and kept on giggling until Jack started to walk away. Realizing that the super cool guy was walking right out of their grasp, another girl piped up, "Molly thinks you're cute!"

Something deep within the core of his mind told him to climb back into his car and speed away, but he only smiled at them and edged closer to Kim's house. "I'm flattered, really I am, but," Jack inhaled the cool night air, preparing to lye to all their innocent little faces, "I have cooties and think girls are gross." With that being said, he zipped away into to open doorway, hoping to loose those crazy groupies forever.

Once inside, he was met up with the birthday girl herself, standing right at the doorway and tapping her impatient little foot. He could tell she was about to bitch him out, so he spoke up before she got the chance. "I'm sorry I'm so late, Kim, I got pulled over b the cops and then there were these crazy little girls, who by the way, I am appalled you hang out with them, but I got you a nice present… see?" Before he handed her, her birthday surprise, he stowed her real present away in his pants pocket, thinking that he would rather give that one to her in private.

Kim took the massive box up in her arms and stared amusedly at the card he had taped up on top. "Y'know what, I'm just gonna put this down by the other presents and _not_ ask." She walked out into a deeper recess of her foyer where mounds of presents were to be found, and Jack followed her obediently, not knowing where else to go. "Your friends are all down in my basement and some of them are looking for you, just so ya know."

"Nice of you to put them there for me," he laughed sarcastically. Without one more word to be spoken between either of them, she led him to her basement door. Before Jack retreated to the depths of the lower levels of her house, he turned to her and genuinely smiled, "happy birthday Kimiko." She smiled back at him and gave him a rather brief hug. But it was enough to lift Jack's spirits from where they had currently been.

As she let go she asked him one last thing before returning to the party, "So are you staying the night too? I gotta know because of floor space." Strangely enough, she looked away from the boy while speaking.

Jack was about to tell her he'd love to, but that little thing in the back of his head reminded him it might not be the best of ideas due to later party _guests._ "I really don't want to be a burden, but listen… if you find the late night party is getting out of control or something, you can give me a call at my house and I'll swing by to check in on things." Kim was, at the least, a little baffled by his comment, but none the less charmed. They promised they'd meet up with each other later on at the party and then split ways.

This was strange, even for Kim, the Queen of Mood Swings. Why was she being so nice to him all of the sudden? It was so out of the blue it nearly worried the guy. For the time being, Jack felt it was best if he pushed all that aside, and focused on other tasks at hand; for instance, what he was going to do once confronted by his mass of revolting friends.

He rounded the bottom banister and head over to the glow of a big screen TV. It stood like a beacon in the dank black of the basement. Leave it to his socially inept friends to sit in a pitch black basement when a huge party was going on just above them. His old buddies were clearly in the middle of watching some horror flick. Jack was all gung-ho for watching a good scary movie now and again, but this seemed to be all these guys liked and after a while it just got old for him. Feeling it would be best if he didn't draw attention to himself, he sat by one of the foreign exchange students he had taken under his wing a while back. Vlad was a nice boy, but as dull as a sack of bricks, so this gave hope to the boy that he might very well go undetected throughout most of the movie. However, that was hardly the case.

Almost instantly, Vlad let out a low growl, as he stared down at Jack from where he was sat. "You, Jack Spicer… where have you been these past weeks?" The foreigner's voice was raised up so loud by the end of his question that he now had the attention of the entire room. Realizing who it was he was talking with, the movie was put on hiatus and the lights were flicked back on.

With an ill attempt for a smile, Jack raised his hand to wave, "hey guys… what's new?"

Wuya, another one of his old buddies, in return raised her eyebrow to him. "why don't' you tell us!" She whipped her crazy red hair out of her eyes to get a better chance to glare at the boy. Once again, Jack noted, she was wearing way too much eye makeup, making her look like the living dead more than anything else. They narrowed into slits as she hissed with her retched voice... which, according to Jack, came from all the years she spent smoking after class. "You completely ditched out on us, you pest! What makes you think we want you back?"

The second female in the room chimed in to back Wuya up, "yeah! Honestly, Robogeek, we don't need you anymore."

Jack quirked his eyebrows as he stared baffled at the girl with blond hair and a nasty attitude, "ok, first off, no one asked you_ Ashley_, as always. And second, I can't be a _"Robogeek"_ as you so dumbly put it, for a few reasons… the biggest one being that I don't build robots! They're called cars, maybe you should invest in getting one!" Jack had so had it with this group of friends. They were always scrutinizing him for one thing or another and he couldn't seem to just let loose and act like himself around them. He always had to put on this little show and turn into Jack Spicer, the biggest dickhead you will ever have the misfortune to meet. And alright, he admitted he could be somewhat of an asshole at times, but he never wanted to make that his full time job. So, with little more to say to the gang of fallen comrades, he turned around and left them with this, "you guys all blow. Seriously… go walk yourselves into a dark corner and rot there."

He could here whispers of hate and cruel intentions swell from the room as he left it, but for some reason he really couldn't have cared less. They couldn't touch him; he was Jack Spicer, one of the elite few in his high school that got the respect he demanded. They were all gnats, and sooner or later, like all gnats eventually do, they will die off or loose their focus on him… because honestly, how long can the attention span of a gnat really be… like 1.5 seconds? It didn't matter, Jack was near to certain he had seen the last of those goons.

The party he had returned to was pushing on at full force. Things were a little out of hand, but it just wasn't a real house party if they weren't. Jack smirked as he watched as one, way over intoxicated boy with the classic lampshade on his head, crossed paths with him and crashed directly into the side wall. That was it; he fell on his back and was out for the night. "That kid is _so_ gonna regret taking off his pants when he wakes up." He shook his head as he left the boy in search of something slightly more amusing to do.

He roamed aimlessly from one room to the next until he finally hit home at the dining room. There he saw Kim with one select group of very close friends, chattering away as if it would save their lives. Obscured behind the door frame, Jack watched intently as they all laughed and giggled about one thing or another. Kim had brought up the name of one of their teachers, Mr. Fung. She was poking fun at his name, and then at the way he droned on like a boring old robot, and then the fact that his head, when caught at the right angle by the sunlight, could refract light and potentially blind someone. Jack began to snigger to himself while listening; it was all so funny because it was all too true. Soon, Jack found himself engrossed in the gossip and embarrassing stories they all had to share, and it wasn't before too long that Kim had noticed him idly standing close by.

"Hey Jack! You havin' fun!" she laughed while she excused herself from the circle of friends for a moment to meet up with him.

"Oh, yeah… this is the best. Actually, I just came by to tell you that… some guy is sprawled out piss drunk in your front foyer, completely lacking any sense, or pants… for that matter… and I think your living room lamp shade is on his head…" He looked uneasily over his shoulder back in the direction of the passed out boy and the turned back to face her.

Kim stood on her toes to see if she could see past Jack to catch the sight from where she stood, but sadly, she could not. "Oh, is that all you came to say?"

What was Jack supposed to say to that? _'No, I'm actually here to tell you that your birthday is about to get ruined and it's partially my fault'_ ? Ok, so Jack had a guilty conscience by this point, he really didn't want to have her party ruined on account of him. This tanked. But still, he wasn't about to go off telling her what she was up against, that being the Crashers. Jack now faced a rather difficult decision; he could either allow his blossoming friendship with Kimiko to grow and flourish, or he could keep Rai's trust and already strengthened friendship. No matter what path he chose, he wouldn't be able to hang onto them both. With a deep sigh, he figured he would deal with it when the time came. Right now he would rather just stay and enjoy the party life.

Suddenly, like a photo coming to life, he snapped out of his personal thoughts, to realize that Kim had asked him a question a minute ago. "What was the question?" he stammered with a tiny smile poking through his embarrassment.

The girl rolled her eyes, "you are so impossible, Jack Spicer. Did you know that?" Then, without much warning at all, she latched her petit hand around his forearm and led him into the dining room to stay and chat with her and her friends. He sat there uneasy, as he found himself completely surrounded by girls, something he was not used to dealing with very often.

The group resumed their conversation, going on and on about this and that. For the most part, the things they spoke of couldn't concern Jack in the least, so more often then not, he found himself spacing out and staring out the window toward nothing in particular. Kim, who had picked up on the fact that Jack wasn't exactly enjoying himself, but still put up with it none the less, pulled him off to the side to spend some time one on one. They stood at the base of the stairs to her second floor silently listened to the party going on around them for a bit. Then Kim broke the ice, as it was becoming a tad uncomfortable for her. "So, what do you think? Should I open your present?"

Jack just about choked. That was right, the present! Oh garbage, how could he forget? This wasn't going to end pretty, because he knew that no matter how smooth of a talker he was, there was no way he could talk himself out of this one. Just as things were starting to go well for him, he had to give her a box of Depends for her b-day. "You don't really want to open it, do you?" he asked as a weak attempt to flounder in this limbo he had created for himself for just a bit longer. By the end of the night, he knew his situation was either going to turn one way or the other, and he hated to admit it, but him giving her that present wasn't going to help things out any more.

She laughed behind her hand, "well… duh! Of course I do, do you see how big that sucker is! It's like… almost twice my size! You really went all out, didn't ya?" Jack only smiled uneasily and nodded while shifting his eyes toward the front door and back to her. If he had to, he would make a mad dash in an attempt to escape her wrath. As if in slow motion, Jack watched as she walked over to his present and picked up his card to read. She snorted at the messed up drawing Jack had drawn and opened it up to read the message inside. It had something scribbled down to the effect of, 'yay for you, you're older than you ever were before. What an accomplishment! Hey, at least you're not 50 yet. Jack'. Kimiko shut the card and stared him down ruthlessly. "you always _did_ have a way with words, didn't you?"

This was it; she had put the card down, and was heading for the present. In only a few short moments, Jack was about to lose the new Kim he had just barely gotten to know, to her old, bitter self. He watched as she ripped into his unique wrapping job, slowly and precisely. Just as she was about to break through to the gift on the other side, Jack's cell went off, ringing intensely and vibrating relentlessly. Kim paused to look up at him.

He flipped open his Razor, to see the name Raimundo Pedrosa scrolling across its screen. Not taking notice to Kim's expression, which was becoming rather impatient with him, he put the slender phone up to his ear and answered it. Rai was on the other end in a full blown panic, "Dude! Get out of the house now, man! They're gonna be there in like… 10 minutes!"

With a furrowed brow and a disgruntled face, Jack pulled the cell away from his ears as Rai was screaming too loud for him to take. "Hold on… right now! Why aren't you coming with them!"

There was a long pause from the other end of the line, but soon enough, Rai's voice crackled through, barely audible, "are you kidding me man? They're like, loco in the cabesa! I think they brought explosives!" That was the last Jack heard from Rai, his phone cut out and there were no more calls from him that night. And as if things couldn't possibly get any worse, Kim had gone without Jack's on looking to open her birthday present and found the "pot of gold" at the end of its "rainbow".

Her face turned red with rage as she clenched a diaper in her fist and shook it in Jack's face. "You must think you're _so_ funny, don't ya, slick? Well_ I_, am NOT, AMUSED!" She tore the thing in half with brute force and threw it in his face, readying herself to rip into him with all the force she could muster. How dare he? But Jack was a slippery fella if nothing else and was already sprinting out the door by the time all the red had cleared from her eyesight. Quite frankly, she was about to go after him and tackle him down into the mud, but was stopped rather abruptly when she caught sight of something he had left behind on the stairs for her; a small box wrapped in silver paper with care.

That was it. As Jack sped down the interstate back toward his house, he decided he would quit school and become a hermit. Hermits didn't need friends, and because of that, they didn't get any drama like this. He was going to start his new life style right after he drove up to Rai's to hit him upside the head for talking him into this big mess of an idea. As if Kimiko wasn't already upset enough, she would be by the time the Crashers were through with her. She didn't deserve any of this, well, ok; maybe she _did_ deserve the diapers, but not the Crashers. How could he ever live with himself after this all went down?

At once, without thinking about the consequences of his actions, he slammed on the breaks and screeched to a deafening halt. That was it; he couldn't live with himself if he let this all go down. Jack had made up his mind. He pulled a complete U-turn and spun to face oncoming traffic. If he was going to do anything now, he was going to make it count as the one thing he wouldn't regret from the night's events.

XXXXXXXXXX

So, do you all enjoy suspense? I sure hope so. Who will jack betray in this tricky balance of teetering friendships and foes? What force can withstand against the awesome might of the Crashers… if anything? And just who _are_ these illusive massacre artists?

Oh well, guess you'll just have to wait until I update.


	6. You Got Crashed!

Ok people. Everything's starting to fall into place. Suspense is running high, even for me! I write these little commentary things before I write the chapter at hand. Let's see how this baby's gonna flow! Oh, and thanks for all the great reviews you guys! You're the reason I keep this thing alive… (Sobs dramatically)… anyways, on with the next chapter! Away!

Part Three

Jack found himself, yet again, speeding toward mass mayhem, a practice he had gotten quite used to over the past couple of weeks. This time, he only hoped he would get there in time to try and buffer the massively destructive effects of the Crashers

Meanwhile, a red Jetta took to the road with two rather grim looking passengers up front. One had long black hair; it was sleek and shimmered in the late night sky: at times it took on an almost greenish sheen. His hands gripped firmly at the wheel as a grin of pure evil spread across his lips time and again. His accomplice, a woman of no more than 24 years of age, sat with her elbow out the window. Her short cropped hair flew about atop her head as the wind bashed it around. It was rather short notice, but she managed to get out of Berkley for the night in time for this party she had heard so much about. "Chase, just because we're doing this party crasher thing again, it certainly does **not** mean things between us have changed in the least."

He sneered, showing his teeth, "don't you think I know that! I know that, now shut it and keep an eye out for Exit 64." Both accomplices were wondering the same exact thing as they ripped their way down the highway, how did that Brazilian kid get them to agree to this?

--

The distinct smell of burning rubber etched its way into Jack's nostrils as he literally tore up asphalt on his way down to Kim's house. He had only been going for maybe 5 minutes before the familiar sound of sirens reached his ears. "Oh for crying out loud, what is it about _my_ speeding that sets me so far apart from all the others?" This time, he wasn't going to give the bastard cop the courtesy of pulling to the side of the road, for Jack had been pushed way beyond the edge by now, and could pass for a mad man if asked to. So, he just put on the breaks, in the middle of the 6 lane highway, and waited to see if the cop would do the same.

Naturally, the cop stopped short of his hind bumper by maybe 2 ft… _maybe._ In a fit of blind rage, the cop tore out of his cruiser, nearly ripping off the side door in the process. The day just seemed to get better and better for Jack! It was the same damn cop, with his same damn cowboy hat, and his same damn attitude. "What in the hell do you think you are doin', boy!" he shouted, spit flying everywhere.

The window to Jack's sport rolled down just enough for him to peak his eyes over its tinted glass. But that was all he needed for they held enough expression in them to warn the officer that this driver was not a happy camper for the moment. "Well, Officer Bialey. To be disgustingly honest with you; I am driving the way I am because I am currently trying to prevent an event from occurring that could very well involve C2 bombs and gunfire." His voice remained completely even and calm as he spoke, leading the officer to question the truth behind Jack's statement. He was about to comment on what the boy had just told him, but Jack got to it first. "And you're not helping me get there any faster!" he hollered while rolling up his window and peeling out into another lane. That was it; Jack had sped away so fast, he was positive he shook off the police officer.

--

"There it is! Turn here, turn here!" The woman sitting beside Chase gripped fiercely at the dash board as the car lifted the outer two of its four wheels clear off the ground, producing an ear splitting screech but a pretty cool rubber burn at the same time.

Chase Young, now hunched over the wheel and looking on at the road in

complete concentration, turned to face the woman, "for the love of God, can you_ please_ give me some warning next time Seek?"(A/N: it is time for me to let you in on a secret. The second of the Crashers is an original Character from this other Fanfic titled _Jack Wants to Take Over the World_. The two characters just seemed to work so well with each other, I couldn't resist!) Chase had actually been waiting for an outing such as this, he couldn't remember the last time he felt so good.

As the two narrowed in on there target spot, he took a brief moment to side glance over toward Seek, who was at the time, trying very hard to stifle laughter behind her hand. "And what's so damn funny?" he asked, swerving the car to give the girl a jolt.

She broke out in a full fledged fit of guffawing, "y- you! You look ridiculous! Holy crap, I can't believe I didn't notice it when you picked me up at the train station… are those gym teacher clothes! You graduated from Berkley and the best job you could get was as a smelly old gym teacher!" She wailed into the night air as tears of laughter stung at her eyes, "my life is complete!" Chase had had enough by this point. He was rather touchy about his job, the truth being that he was too violent when it came to any other occupation he had applied for. This was the only job that actually _allowed_ him to beat on people. So in a rather drastic attempt to show Seek who was boss, he momentarily veered the car off road and into the grove by the side of the highway. The two jostled around rapidly in their seats as Seek cried out above the noise of gravel on whirling tires. "ARE YOU FRIGGIN' OUT OF YOUR BLEEDING SKULL!"

Chase, not able to hear over the intense sound only shouted back at her, "WHAT!"

Again, Seek screeched in an attempt to communicate, "I SAID, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR- oh forget it!" In a mad fit of energy, she leaned over and overpowered the wheel from the slightly touched in the head gym teacher, managing to get them back onto the road and spinning out of control down I-91.

--

He parked his car as close as he could to the house. Jack should have considered how lucky he was to get such a close parking spot last time he was here. Now he had to literally sprint down the street to make it there within a reasonable timeslot. All the house lights were on, showing off silhouettes of crazed party teens to the whole outside world. With only a little bit of a struggle, Jack managed to pry the door open, revealing way more people than he remembered being there last. This was going to be next to impossible, how was he supposed to find Kim in such an overly dense crowd? It was like playing find the needle in the hay stack, or more accurately, like find the hay in the needle stack.

Realizing he hadn't a moment to loose, he set to work asking every person he could where Kim was. None of them knew if they even knew who she was at all. It was clear to Jack that the party had already gotten way out of hand without the help of the Crashers. Finally, after much asking around, someone directed him to where Kim _actually _was. She was off with another giant group of friends, enjoying herself while playing a nice, competitive game of Twister. "Well, at least she's not huddled up in a corner like I would be at this point…" Jack shook his head; it was almost disgusting to him how sociable Kim could be when she wanted. He realized he might very well be putting his life on the line for just trying to talk with Kim because of what went on earlier that night, but he had to at least try and make right what he had so very obviously made wrong.

Slowing himself down for the time being, he cautiously tapped the girl on the shoulder. Startled, she fell from her position and ended up in a knotted heap on the Twister matt. "Aw Christ, who in the hell just ruined my turn- Jack?" The boy stepped back from her unconsciously, his mind automatically registering on how she could be if she were to get upset. She stammered to her feet, walking away from the group without explaining to them why, and left to the other room with him trailing behind. Once alone, she looked up at the boy.

"You are so weird." She smiled warmly and pointed to the silver necklace hanging from her neck. The charm it bore was of a tiny, white gold ratchet, making for one peculiar fashion statement.

"Well…y'know," Jack bashfully crushed his foot into the ground while smiling shyly. Strangely enough, time seemed to slow for the couple. Jack wanted nothing more than to stay with her the rest of the party and just talk, talk about nothing at all and just ramble on and on with her. However, harsh reality set in; reminding him he had to get the girl out of the house pronto. Yep, that was what he decided on, there was no way he could save the whole party, so he decided he would just save a piece of it. This way Kim wouldn't get hurt… too much, and Rai would get to have his revenge, even if it wasn't directly on her. The Crashers would come and go, and leave nothing behind but some costly damage and a bunch of pissed off people that Jack couldn't give a flying rat's ass over.

As his common sense washed back over him, after his giddy moment of teen boy-dome had crashed, he grabbed hold of Kimiko by the shoulders. "Don't slap me… Ok?" Thrust back into his mad rush to get Kim out of there, he picked her up by the shoulders and practically slung her small body over his own. And then, like a man made of cement, plowed through the crowds of partiers, clearing himself an exit for when he reached the door. On his way out he spotted Clay talking with some of his Football buddies. Fighting with himself for what seemed to be a great deal of time, Jack decided to give the guy a heads up. "Listen, Clay… don't tell anyone why but you, personally, need to get out of here." Clay stared out from underneath the low brim of his hat, practically egging Jack to go on, but that was all Jack would let himself say. "No, I can't tell you why. Just go, and bring as little attention to yourself as possible." Feeling satisfied that he had done all he could, Jack turned to leave for good, this time, with Kimiko still hanging from his grasp.

Now out in the fresh night air, and away from the stifled party, Kim spoke her mind, "Just what in the hell do you think you're doing? You can't just take the birthday girl away from her party! There will be riots! Fires will break out and the world as we know it will end!" She could have easily gone on a much longer rant, but she was becoming light headed from being hung upside down like a sack of potatoes for so long, and decided to leave it at that. Jack only rolled his eyes at her dramatic take on what might happen if she, the star girl, wasn't there.

Once by Jack's car, he set her down and opened the passenger side door for her, "Kim, there are going to be riots there even _with_ you present. Now get in, we can go for a drive together."

Kim rolled her eyes while ducking under the door and taking her seat, "if it's gonna be anything like the last ride we took together, I'll pass… thankyou." Jack, being as keen as he was, knew exactly to what the girl was referencing to. She was talking about the drive home from school during the tornado scare.

As Jack took his seat beside her and put the keys in the ignition, he turned to her with a creepy glint in his eyes. "Well then, I suppose speeding's out of the question then." With that being said, Jack pulled the craziest, most reckless K-turn both he and Kim had ever seen, and flew out of his parking space with the gas slammed on full. As his car raced down the street and out of the little suburban neighborhood, a new car was just cruising in to take its place.

The party still raged on, even with the lack of its honored guest of the night. One guy had gotten up on the kitchen table to dance to some song by Sean Paul. It was blasting pretty loud, and the kids were actually surprised no one had filed a complaint yet. People threw money at him, like small change, and shouted for him to take off his shirt as a joke. Everything was just fun and games until the boy was knocked off from where he stood by an onslaught of paintballs hailing from some unknown area of the house. There was a deafening silence as the music scratched out and aside from the out burst of sudden whispers, the house was dead still.

After the whispers died down, the music, now amped up to an even more insane volume and switched to heavy metal, screamed back to life. The house shook as the bass nearly pushed through the walls, floors and ceiling. The kids were all in a panic, not knowing exactly what was going on, until one of the masses became aware of two shady figures that sat perched atop some expensive speakers. I mean, these things were just massive, and the sound quality they pumped out would have been enough to send any kid into cardiac arrest, but not at this point in the game.

No, right now, kids were running about, like chickens with their heads cut off, but the boy who caught sight of the two strangers stood frozen in his tracks. He had been to other wild parties such as this, and knew what to expect… and what to pray against. These were the infamous Crashers, here to wreck their fun and ultimately tare down the house. One of the two, a man, held fast to the paintball gun with a smirk tickling his lips, while the other grasped two objects in her hands which strangely resembled that of firecrackers.

If these two were going to make an entrance, they were going to make it right. Seek lit both firecrackers with a lighter she had found on the floor and sent them whizzing into the sea of kids before her. As the sea parted to make way for the red, white and blue flames, Chase yelled out over the screams. "You guys throwin' a party! You little runts don't know _how_ to throw a party!" Chase was about to school them in their ways when a lone kid rose up from the massing confusion and hysteria.

"Mr. Young? _You're_ one of the _Crashers_?" The kid had caught on quickly to Chase's gym class attire and had recognized him as one of his teachers.

Seek only smiled wider while a look of distaste swathed the man's face. "Shut up Jimmy, _you're _running laps till you drop dead on Monday." His bitter remark was hurriedly followed by a stream of green and gold paintballs, heading strait for the kid who dared to speak with Chase so lowly. And after that, all hell broke loose.

Paint cans were opened, bathing their contents all over kids in every room. Toilet paper and silly string were put to good use as well, and if anyone dared to rise up against them, they were met with a fury of fists and paintballs. Yes, the Crashers were at their best tonight; tearing into the party goers like fresh meat… which is basically what they were to them: prey.

--

Some where else, relatively far away from where all the mischief and mayhem were taking place, Jack pulled into his driveway. The whole of the ride there, he had denied Kimiko his reason for parting her from her beloved party. But now that they were away from all the excitement, and Jack had stepped away from the wheel, there was nothing left to postpone his excuse. Kim looked to him with only slightly annoyed eyes. "So… what? You're just gonna kidnap me from my own party and _not_ tell me why?"

Jack, now leading his companion through his lonely house toward the entertainment room, heaved out a sigh while readying himself to fess up the truth. After only a short while, he was as ready as he felt he would ever be, "ok… I took you from the party cuz I knew…" he faded for a moment, trying to come up with anything that might make what he was about to say sound better. In the end he rested on the idea that honesty was potentially the best policy, but it never hurts to throw in a white lie now and again. So, in light of that, that was exactly what Jack did. He told Kim about the Crashers, but left out one major detail; the part about him having something to do with this whole mess.

Only slightly astonished by what she heard, Kim did nothing but gape for a moment. "So," she asked slowly, "they're ruining my party right now?" Her associate nodded painstakingly. "And like… my house too?" Jack again, nodded, feeling lower than the shit on the bottom of his shoe. If he could, he would have kicked himself in the ass for being such a jerk, but sadly, he was not flexible enough, so he only sat… hating himself more and more by the second.

If one were to walk in on the two distressed friends, one might assume they might have witnessed a death earlier that day, because God knows they were certainly acting the part. Realizing that it _was _just the death of a party they were grieving over and nothing more, Jack made up his mind to try and put on a cheery face to brighten the mood. "Who cares, y'know? Most of the people at that blow out didn't even know your name. And another good half totally sucked anyway. I say, good riddance, they deserve what they're getting."

"My _friends_ were at that party," she hissed, taking offence to what Jack just said.

"And they're smart people. They'll get out when things start going bad. Trust me; the only ones who are left to fend off the Crashers are the idiots and the host. I took you away from all that so everyone left doesn't really matter." He hoped that that would allow Kim to get a little of the stress he had caused off her chest, and apparently it did.

A small smile began to shine through her drab expression, as she took a seat next to the boy on the leather divan. "Yeah, I guess you're right, besides, we can have our own fun here… like a personal party for two."

Jack grinned evilly, while edging closer to her still, "oh really?" He raised an eyebrow to show his interest in what she had to say next. However, the next thing to hit his ears was not what he expected.

A jaw shattering slap met with his face as he was sent careening off the sofa and onto the carpet below. "OW! No more slapping! NO More Slapping!" He ambled back up onto the couch, rubbing sorely at his cheek. Usually, when a Kimiko slap came, Jack could expect a good bitching out for the next couple of minutes to follow, but this time, she wore a smile. This was… weird. What did she mean by all that? "Honestly Woman, I could end up having to go to therapy 20 years down the road because of crap like that."

Kim laughed, showing that she meant no harm in what she did and took on a happy tone in her voice, "Could you make me some more of that hot chocolate stuff? With your families fudge and the whip cream and all? It was really good last time."

No, it really wasn't good. He had made that cup of cocoa out of spite, with ingredients such as cream cheese and his own spit. She just loved making him regret his actions today, didn't she? He smiled broadly at her, trying not to come off as hiding anything from her… but obviously he wasn't doing a very good job. Feeling overwhelmed with everything that was going on around him, Jack's mind spun out of control, leaving him out of whack and feeling odder than ever before. Without thinking much at all, because most people rarely do when opting to do this, Jack leaned in toward Kim and met her with a kiss. A kiss! Where in the hell did that come from!

The eyes in Kimiko's head nearly bugged all the way out and across the room. Clearly, this was _not_ the answer she was expecting to get after asking for a cup of hot cocoa. But soon, she relaxed and shut those bulging eyes of hers and let come to be what already came. Shortly after, her new good friend pulled away, completely flustered and out of breath, his old smug grin coming back to wrap around his mouth. Quickly, he stood up from where he sat and leaned over to the girl again, this time to do something only a little different. In a wild lunge, he leapt toward her, extending his arms in a fanatical fashion, only to do something a little less than romantic.

His outstretched hands made contact with her shoulders, sending her flying off the couch and onto the carpet where he had been sentenced to only a few short minutes ago. Then, like a little kid, he ran around the corner, stopped, and just barely peaked his head back into the room where Kimiko lye on her back. "There's the first ingredient to your hot chocolate! I'll go make you the rest now." With a slight giggle escaping the boy's mouth, he left Kim to ponder on what he could have possibly meant.

Mystification riddled her face as she wiped some drying spit from the corner of her mouth. Thinking long and hard on what Jack had said she finally put the pieces of the puzzle together… she didn't find it amusing at all. After struggling slightly to get up from where she lay, the pursuit was on. She chased him through all the rooms of his gargantuan house; not stopping until sweet revenge was hers.

--

At the other end of town, the party was dieing down, having been completely left in ruins. Every garbage can in the house and within its property line held its contents completely engulfed in flames. The Crashers had won. Kids fled into the streets, covered in eggs, paint, highly flammable hair products, silly string, toilet paper and so very much more. Wuya and the gang staggered out to their cars, sticky with mess and in the need of a good shower. Vlad, not having an American license, rode home with Wuya.

While on the road, he turned to her with the biggest, dopiest grin in the world plastered up on his large face. "What are you so happy about?" she barked, not being in the best of the moods at the time.

"Yah, I was just thinking about this party. It was truly great." His thick Russian accent made it near to impossible for Wuya to pick out what he was trying to say, but she managed to piece it together well enough.

"What do you mean _great_? It was a disaster! Look at my hair! You can't get paint out of hair like this without dumping acid on it first!" She was right, her hair, more than anyone else's, was beyond repair. It ran rampant with all sorts of horrid things; tiny rodents being just one of them.

But Vlad wasn't convinced, "no. I know only truly great parties get crashed, and this was crashed by the _Crashers_. It is one of the best." Wuya growled, taking a turn onto the highway. He had her there.

XXXXXXXXX

So, what do ya think? Does this chapter piece things together well enough? Now that the epic party disaster is over and done with, I must admit I'm a little bit stuck as to what I should do next. Write me and give me your input, I think it's great when you guys do that!


	7. Crossing Over

Hey yall! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I was out partying and whatnot. Went down to VA Beach and chilled with a bunch of friends down there. So yeah, here's the next chap. I really hope you like it!

Enjoy!

The school year was coming to an end. The weather was finally growing warmer and quite some time had passed since the epic Crasher catastrophe. Tiny tree buds were starting to pop up from their wintry sleep, and the grass was at last beginning to gain back its greenish luster as apposed to the dull brown it frequented. Spring was setting upon the small suburban county, and every last creature seemed to burst with the joy for yet another warm spell.

Every creature save for Jack and his gang. Usually Clay, one of Jack's more upbeat friends, loved the warm weather because it reminded him of Texas. But this year even _he_ dreaded the upcoming summer. The reason being that he knew what was to come of it at the end. Now, this might have been overlooked by the group earlier on in the year, but it was really starting to really hit them hard now that the school year was closing.

You see, Jack had signed up for the Advanced Placement Half-year Program at the school during the start of his junior year. This meant that he took all A.P. courses and finished up the requirements for his senior year as well as his junior year. He had initially done this because he was looking to get the hell out of his high school career as early as possible, but now he was really enjoying his time spent there; what with all his new friends and all.

But it didn't really matter how hard he wished he could turn back time to stop him from signing up from the program, because the truth was that he was going to be graduating soon and leaving all his friends behind.

--

Jack trudged his way down the hall, scowling at anyone who dared to look at him while he was in this foulest of moods. Tomorrow would be his last day to see any of these kids, and though he held a great distaste for most of them, he was still upset. Needless to say, our hero had grown a great deal since the beginning of this year, and he knew it, but he was about to revert back to his old morose self if these kids didn't stop giving him the hairy eye. But, like I said, he was a stronger person now, so he managed to hold his tongue until he got to class. It was the one class of the day where saw all of his friends at once: English class.

Raimundo was already seated in the far back of the room and waving him over. Without hesitation, Jack pushed his way past a flock of gossiping kids to sit by him. As he walked by they all stopped to stare at him, and their giggles and conversation died down to mere whispers. "What the hell is wrong with all these people!" Jack wailed as he pulled up a desk by Rai, "God! They're all looking at me like I have lobsters crawling out of my ears!"

"Nah, they're probably all just gawking at ya 'cuz they know you're the freak genius who's gonna be graduating in a day." As Rai spoke he waved down Kim and Clay who were just stepping into class as well.

This was way too unreal for Jack; he didn't much like the idea of graduating before his classmates anymore. "Thanks for pointing out what a loser I am to me, what would I do without you?" His voice was coated in a silver lining of bitter sarcasm and dripping with cynicism. It wasn't too hard for his bud to realize he was feeling down in the dumps, so naturally he tried to cheer him up. "Hey Kim! Why don't you give your boyfriend over here a nice going away present!" he laughed, hoping Jack would do the same.

Instead Kim just bopped him one on the head and took her seat on the other side of Jack. "Everything alright, Jackie?"

Jack winced; he hated it when she called him that in public. But her enticing eyes forced him to answer, "yeah, I just don't wanna leave so soon, that's all." He paused and looked at the rest of the kids in the room, "and these ass-bags won't stop lookin' at me like my heads on fire and all sorts of aquatic life forms are shooting out of my ears!"

Clay, who sat comfortably in the desk directly in front of Jack spun around to face him, "have you ever stopped t' consider that they're all starin' at ya cuz you _do_ have fish spewin' outta yer ears and yer head _is_ on fire?"

It seemed as though the whole room stopped talking just as Clay blurted out his random quote of the day. What was meant to be a whimsical comment to make Jack laugh was now being scrutinized by his entire English Lit. class. One of his football buddies, after spending some time in awkward silence, shouted across the room to him. "Clay, buddy, I love ya like a brother, but you _seriously_ need to stop watchin' all that Anime." The cowboy blushed; realizing just now that his secret was out. He was about to speak up in his defense, but was cut short by the entrance of Mr. Monk-Guan, their English teacher.

All the students instantly slumped down in their chairs, as if it were protocol, and readied themselves for yet another excruciatingly long and boring lecture on Mark Twain. This was one part of school Jack would _not_ miss. But even still, Jack knew he should take every last moment of his high school career and try to look at in the best light possible, because he understood that now that he wanted to stay more than ever, cruel fate was preparing to make the last few days fly by.

And they did, they shed so fast it made the poor boy's head spin. And soon, Jack found himself lining up in his graduation uniform trying to ready himself for the big ceremony. His parents couldn't make it for his "crossing over" but that was to be expected of them. His dad was always off on business trips and his mom, as of late, loved to travel along side him. So in their place were his friends; Rai, Kim, and Clay. They sat in a neat row on those foldy chairs they always use for school functions, and waved spastically at him the entire time he was up there. Then, once his principal, Mr. Fung, finally wrapped up his droning speech up, it was time for the class to receive their much deserved diplomas. They called out the names alphabetically, so Jack had some time to kill, which he did by nonchalantly trying to pick a wedgie his dress pants were just beginning to introduce. He tried to make it as inconspicuous as possible, but Raimundo noticed without fail. Jack could tell because the kid nearly fell off his chair in laughter, interrupting the whole ceremony and bringing it to a complete standstill until he regained his composure.

Once he calmed down it got back underway and soon Mr. Fung plowed his way into the S's on the student raster. Erving Sewerstench was called and he awkwardly made his way up to center stage, tripping over his lanky legs as he did so. Jack laughed at his stupid name while thinking about how much his parents must have hated him to name the him that. Then Elmira Shillang was beckoned to the stage. As she left the seat Jack couldn't help but notice the enormous stain on the butt of her dress, it looked like a grass stain, but it really didn't matter what it was because either way, he still found it hysterical.

Then, finally, after all the other S's were called up, it was Jack's turn. He made his way across the stage as his posse of new friends whooped and hollered for him. Mr. Fung held out the Diploma for Jack to take and then shook his hand firmly; mumbling something about great achievements or some bull like that. After the parchment was in hand, Jack made it down the procession of teachers lined up to shake his hand; the last one being Mr. Young. With a malevolent smirk, he took the boy's hand up in a firm shake, whispering something all the while. "When you get to college, boy, make sure you don't advertise any parties you might be throwing to this town, because _you know who's_ just itching for an invite." A nervous smile crept onto Jack's mouth as he tried to pull his hand away from his petrifying teacher, but Mr. Young had one final note to sing to the boy. "Oh, and if you're heading off to Berkley… tell Miss Seek that I'm looking forward to our next visit."

With that he let go of Jack's now sweaty hand and sent him off into the crowd of spectators. As soon as he touched his dress shoes to the grassy ground he was pummeled by his good friends as they cheered for him and his graduation. Rai, who had gotten all teary eyed, swept him up in a massive bear hug and refused to let him go before Clay came in and tackled him off the kid. As the two boys wrestled on the ground, Kim shyly walked up to him and threw her arms around him. "I'm so proud of you Jack!" she squealed, literally wrapping herself around him. "Promise me you won't ignore me once you head off to college and meet all those college chicks."

"I won't," he said slowly, still not completely used to a girl like Kimiko feeling jealous over him.

Kim let go of her embrace and stared him strait in the eye, "I'll miss you so much, Jackie."

A small yet devious grin began to curl its way up his lips, "does that mean I get a going away present?"

Even though they had been dating for a good several months, Kim still wouldn't let him get away with much, so she bluntly growled, " don't count on it, big guy," kissed him, and then backed away to give Clay his chance to congratulate his friend.

Down in Texas, or at least the part Clay was from, it wasn't enough to give a guy a bear hug of congrats, you had to slap them on the back too. So he did, Jack lost his footing and fell to the ground and just stayed there for a bit, not wanting to get back up before he regained feeling in his lower spine… and possibly his legs.

Eventually Jack climbed back up to his feet and rejoined his group of friends who had now migrated over to the cake and punch table. It was getting late so he figured he would tell the gang he was retiring for the night, but when he did they, again, all looked at him like his head was aflame and various types of sea life were emitting from his ears. "Dude, you gotta be kidding me? We can't let you go just yet! You gotta come back to my place first for presents and junk." Rai looked genuinely hurt for a moment, but soon got over it as he caught sight of a "cutie" walking by. "Meet us back at the car in 5 and we'll all head back to my place for your little party-mabob." With that being said, Rai practically floated through the air after this poor young woman.

--

The gang all sat around the Pedrosa Family kitchen table, along with Rai's younger cousin, Omi, as they laughed about the year's past happenings. The time when Jack nearly ran down Kim with his car was brought up… Rai, in particular, liked that one. And the time where Rai thought someone had slashed his tires was brought up as well… Kim was more partial to that tale. All manner of school and school year based stories were retold at the table as the kids made fun of their teachers and each other. Clay reminded the gang about the time Jack was used for target practice by his gym teacher in class one day, leading Omi to ask Jack if he needed help beating up this "Mr. Young".

But the stories were only told for so long before they began to lose their luster. That was when Kimiko decided it was time to brake out Jack's Graduation Presents. Omi, being the youngest of the group, got to give Jack his present first. It was a card he drew himself. The cover sported a crayoned drawing of him and Omi fighting side by side against stick figures that all wore tags labeled "evil." The inside read as follows:

_Dear Jack,_

_You are a funny man. Perhaps next time we meet we can fight side by side against the forces of evil. I am glad I was able to sway you from your dark ways as an Evil Boy Genius. Congratulations on your Graduation. You are a most honorable person._

_Love,_

_Omi_

Jack smiled inwardly as he put the card down and gave the tiny boy a hug, "yeah, you sure as heck beat those evil tendencies right out of me." as soon as he let go, Rai was all up in his face, waving his present around. Jack rolled his eyes, "Yes Raimundo, I will open your present next." The tone in his voice was dull and emotionless, but meant only as a joke.

An odd shaped gift with a less than good wrapping job was placed in the palms of his hands. Carefully, he opened it up to reveal 20 bucks and a very interesting, very sticky looking yoyo.

Rai laughed as his friend quirked a questioning eyebrow, "ok, let me explain. The $20 is from the tire job you did on my car, and the yoyo is a memento for you to keep from that day."

"But I thought I cleaned out all that sticky mess from your car," Jack pressed, hoping he didn't miss any spots.

"Oh yeah, you did… but y'know that whole juice thing?"

"Yeah?"

The hand Rai had currently left in his pocket was now scratching nervously at the back of his head, "well… it happened again." The whole room erupted with fits of laughter as images of Rai sitting in his car during another surprise juice explosion floated through all their heads. Jack was about to ask how he managed to do that but decided against it as Clay dropped his present in his lap.

It was big and bulky and smelled something awful. As Mr. Graduation Pants peeled the browned newspaper wrapping off his gift, he tried his best not to flare his nostrils at the _unique_ odor it was emitting. Once the paper was slid about halfway off, Jack looked back to Clay with confusion written up and down his pale white face.

"I had my Momma send up one o'her state famous Rack o' Ribs. It's all seasoned up and everythin' fer ya, so all you gotta do is stick it up on the grill." A proud smile swept across the cowboy's face as he stood there like a giant. The smile only grew larger when Jack returned it in a friendly gesture.

To make sure the ribs wouldn't go bad… or get any worse than they already were, Jack got up and stashed them in Rai's freezer for the time being. When he returned to his seat a dainty little preset was sitting there waiting for him. It had a tag dangling from the sparkly silver ribbon that read :_ To Jackie, Love Kimi_. It would be a lie to say Jack wasn't intrigued by the petit gift from his girlfriend. Carefully, he opened it up to find a very nice coffee mug with a Gourmet packet of French Vanilla Hot Cocoa sitting on the inside. His head rolled back on his shoulders as he laughed to himself, and when he brought it back up his lips were met by Kimiko's. Omi stared on wide eyed as the two shared a good long kiss. Realizing that his little cousin was watching something he really shouldn't be, Raimundo covered up his eyes with both his hands.

Once Jack and Kim felt like they had had enough of being PDAs for the time being, they broke free and smiled sheepishly at everyone else, who were still all staring at them like they were the next act in the freak show.

A few more short hours of chatter followed and then Jack made the decision to _really_ call it a night. He gathered up all his much appreciated presents and got up from his chair. The gang all gave him one last hug before he left for the night; Kimiko by his side. As he reached the door he spun back around to wave goodbye, "hey, why don't; we chill tomorrow? Just because I don't technically go to your school anymore doesn't mean we can't hang during the summer." Smiles lit up all around room as the all agreed one by one. Before he turned back around he looked down to Kim and raised a question, "so am I dropping you off at your place?"

The question was innocent enough but the answer to follow sure wasn't. "No, I'm staying the night at your house."

Hooting, Rai and Clay ran up to the couple with fistfuls of wrapping paper in their hands. As they charged they threw it, pelting the two to no end. "Get outta my house you sick, sick people!"

Jack and Kim ducked and ran for cover to his car, leaving their buddies at the side of the driveway. As they pulled out, Jack caught sight of Rai signaling the international sign for "call me" with his hand as he mouthed out, "tell me everything tomorrow." Finding the antics of his friend rather amusing, he rolled his eyes and as both he and his girlfriend sped recklessly down Tornami Lane.

Fin.

XxXxXxXxXx

OMG! It's done! There's some type of closure, meaning it is complete! Reviews are always more than welcome, and don't you worry your little heads none cuz I'll be writing more soon. It will just be on another Xiaolin story. If you have any requests for any stories you might like me to write, send 'em to me! I luv you guys and peace!


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